Extremism Concerns Raised Against Bill to Empower Local News

Digital rights advocates are warning that a bill to aid local journalism could force technology platforms to carry and pay for extreme content.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider the bipartisan bill (S. 673) Thursday. It’s intended to empower small news organizations to negotiate compensation from technology giants such as Meta Platforms Inc.‘s Facebook and Alphabet Inc.‘s Google.

Allowing media companies to take legal action against tech platforms if they limit offensive or extreme content would violate the First Amendment and increase the amount of disinformation, hate speech, and harassment online, 21 groups told ...